PHOTOS: When friends help friends DIY

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Heather’s friend’s coffee table and end tables were solid, but too cutesy with their cut-out hearts.

Heather’s friend’s coffee table and end tables were solid, but too cutesy with their cut-out hearts.

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Heather’s friend’s coffee table and end tables were solid, but too cutesy with their cut-out hearts.

Heather’s friend’s coffee table and end tables were solid, but too cutesy with their cut-out hearts.

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Heather used her cordless jigsaw to remove the hearts and make the tables less kitschy.

Heather used her cordless jigsaw to remove the hearts and make the tables less kitschy.

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Heather used her cordless jigsaw to remove the hearts and make the tables less kitschy.

Heather used her cordless jigsaw to remove the hearts and make the tables less kitschy.

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Heather used her cordless jigsaw to remove the hearts and make the tables less kitschy.

Heather used her cordless jigsaw to remove the hearts and make the tables less kitschy.

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Heather’s friend lightened the wood with a concealer coat, and then painted them a creamy white (Fusion Mineral Paint’s “Raw Silk”) and distressed the edges.

Heather’s friend lightened the wood with a concealer coat, and then painted them a creamy white (Fusion Mineral Paint’s “Raw Silk”) and distressed the edges.

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Heather’s friend lightened the wood with a concealer coat, and then painted them a creamy white (Fusion Mineral Paint’s “Raw Silk”) and distressed the edges.

Heather’s friend lightened the wood with a concealer coat, and then painted them a creamy white (Fusion Mineral Paint’s “Raw Silk”) and distressed the edges.

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Heather’s friend lightened the wood with a concealer coat, and then painted them a creamy white (Fusion Mineral Paint’s “Raw Silk”) and distressed the edges.

Heather’s friend lightened the wood with a concealer coat, and then painted them a creamy white (Fusion Mineral Paint’s “Raw Silk”) and distressed the edges.

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Heather’s friend lightened the wood with a concealer coat, and then painted them a creamy white (Fusion Mineral Paint’s “Raw Silk”) and distressed the edges.

Heather’s friend lightened the wood with a concealer coat, and then painted them a creamy white (Fusion Mineral Paint’s “Raw Silk”) and distressed the edges.

The thing about giving DIY advice is that sometimes people end up elbow-deep in DIY misery . . . and it’s all because of you. Gulp.

It started off innocently, as it always does.

My friend mentioned she wanted to paint her coffee table and end tables, and I jumped in with ‘helpful’ suggestions. She’d been given the hand-me-down tables and wanted to use them in her new living room, and I wholeheartedly agreed. The tables were solid and incredibly well-built. I love heavy wooden pieces that can last forever, because you can just keep repainting them as the mood strikes.

But this wasn’t just a straightforward painting job. The tables had kitschy heart cut-outs on each side. My friend loves the casual farmhouse look, but wasn’t a fan of the cutesy country flourishes. That meant we had six hearts to break — er, remove.

So I drove out to Debert, armed with my cordless Ryobi ONE jigsaw and a bag of extra batteries. I sketched a rectangle to become the new cut-out, popped on my safety goggles and then plunged the sharp blade into the first heart — ugh, that sounds violent.

It took about an hour to cut out all six hearts, pausing occasionally to rest my hand and replace the saw’s battery. I’m always amazed at the delicate cuts you can make with a jigsaw, and sometimes I had to go back and redo an area a few times to get it squared off. By the end, my right hand felt silky smooth from the exfoliating effect of the saw.

Once the sawing was finished, my friend was able to tackle the next step after putting her kids to bed: applying a concealer coat to prime all three tables. This isn’t always necessary, but if you’re starting with dark wood and want to paint it white, it’s cheaper to use Fusion Mineral Paint’s concealer initially since it costs less than their regular paint.

She’d picked Fusion Mineral Paint’s Raw Silk — a beautiful warm, old white with a touch of grey — which was a perfect match to the legs of her custom-built farmhouse table across the room.

Picking the colour was easy. Painting the tables was anything but. My poor friend texted me dreary updates over the next few weeks. It was taking her more coats than I’d promised — she was rolling it on thinly, whereas I tend to glop it on with a brush — and she was being far more meticulous than me, which makes each coat take way longer.

I felt badly, and it was an important reminder that just because I’ve painted a lot of furniture doesn’t mean it’s easy — or fast — for someone who’s new to it. I texted back apologetic Bitmojis and hoped we were still going to be friends once the project was over. But my friend persevered, and even roughed up the edges with sandpaper to get the distressed look she wanted. While it was a harder job than she’d originally thought — I, um, must have been a little too enthusiastic about the time commitment — she likes them way better now that they’re painted.

It was quite the transformation. The refinished white tables look wonderful against her grey sofas and dark wood floors. Best of all, when someone compliments them, she can take full credit because she worked hard to remake them.

About the Author

Heather Laura Clarke lives in Truro with her husband, son, and daughter, where she merrily converts their builder-basic house into a personalized House of Dreams – using paint, fabric, wood, and her trusty glue-gun. Follow her on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/hfxheather.